Pushing Forward- Naomi Ryder
by StarlightMooon
Summary: Naomi Ryder- winner of 3 melon awards and one Asian artist award, highly famous since her debut. She's now doing a 3 month collaboration with none other than BTS. As they're training and living together romance is most definitely in the air, but so is tension and high stress as Naomi finds out she has a very serious health condition.


**Chapter 1**

"Great concert Naomi, the fans practically screamed their lungs out! With this upcoming collaboration you'll have another music award for sure!" My overly-enthusiastic assistant manager, AJ said.  
"Who's the Collab with anyways? I forgot to ask earlier since I was busy with-"  
"Not sure yet, the Director said he'll tell us when we get back tonight" He interrupted as he always did to anybody speaking to him. The manager, or Director, as some call him was a rather dry man of high authority named- well his name didn't matter as he made it a point to call him Sir, Director, or Manger. He wasn't the friendliest, either. It was AJ that found me singing at the train station by my small house when I was 16 trying to raise money for my mother's chemotherapy. H ad it not been for AJ her road to recovery would have fallen short. She's well now, though I rarely hear from her. My voice had apparently 'shown so much potential' to where he paid to have my mom taken to a great hospital far off from where we were, and we began my training that very night. That was 3 years ago. Since my debut I was an instant hit and I've already won 3 melon awards and an Asian music award. The director thought it would be good to have a collaboration again since my last one with 2ne1 had been such a hit. The old me would have never thought that I'd be here today, that's for sure.  
"I hope he knows that by the time we get back it's going to be at least 1 in the morning. I'm tired. Do we have to talk about it tonight? Can't he just call or something?" I whined. Putting on a performance was a lot more work than it looks like and I was ready for my head to hit pillow.  
"You're always sleeping, stay awake for once-be a regular teenager who lives at night! You did a great job though, I'm proud!" He said as he flipped his bangs. He was a small man, middle aged with longer dark hair. I'd never asked, and I never will since it's not my business, but I wouldn't be surprised if I saw another man in AJ's room. "But honey you should know that's not going to happen. If that man says something, it's absolute. And he says there's more details that he's got to have me fill you in on once I get them so it must be important right? Just take a nap on the ride like you'd probably planned anyways- If beauty sleep is a real thing then that's why you're so gorgeous doll." He said as he bustled me into the changing room and closed the door behind me.  
I sighed. Everything about this business was 'rush here' 'quickly do this', I barely had enough time to think sometimes. I took off my concert attire- a tight black shirt with washed out high brand jeans, black high heels, all my expensive jewelry, and slipped into my maroon shirt and torn blue jeans with grey vans. I pulled my long dark waves into a high ponytail, wipe the little bit of sweat from my forehead, and as soon as I go to grab my phone, I hear AJ by the door.  
"C'mon sweetie! The tour bus is waiting!" I sighed internally as I opened the door and he linked his arm to mine and began walking in a quick pace to the bus. I wish I had the energy levels to be as enthusiastic and positive and he is constantly. The ride was about 2 hours, needless to say I had fallen asleep not even ten minutes into gazing at the dim glow of the city I just performed in, the post-performance rush leaving my body quicker than I wished it would.  
"Naomi, wake up" I felt a light shake as AJ woke me.  
"Let's go get this talk with the director over" He said much less enthusiastic than normal. I could tell he was tired, and he must've dozed off just a bit too. AJ didn't get enough credit for how hard he works in my eyes. Regardless, he'd be back to his perky self within ten minutes.  
Once we had our props and concert equipment loaded off and taken inside by the stage assistants we walked into the 'Newhits' company building and into the Directors office, where he turned in his chair to face us.

"Naomi! Great job closing your concert tonight, fans loved it as always. Sorry for keeping you so late but I'd rather talk to you both in person" He said in his monotone deep voice as he scratched his gray beard and took his glasses off revealing tired eyes.

"it's no problem. It's about the collaboration, right? "

"Yes. As you know views die down substantially after a tour end. Two years ago, you did the collaboration with 2ne1 and that boosted your fanbase. This year it's going to be different however" he said.

"different how? " I asked.

"With the three months you trained with 2ne1 you stayed in neighboring hotels and met up for meetings and trainings. This time around you'll stay with the group you are collaborating with in an apartment for the entirety of the three months, as camera men pop in and out when they please. Think of it as if your training is mixing in with the filming of a reality TV show, as that's pretty much what the situation is. A TV show company contacted me and the manager of the group that was most requested for you to perform with, and this would be a great opportunity to start getting you known better internationally as well. Think of it as advancing your career but even better."

I sighed. "... I don't know...it doesn't sound like som-"

"It wasn't a question. I wasn't asking you anything. I'm telling you this is how it's going to go." He handed a stack of papers to AJ.

Anger sparked inside me, but I chose not to say anything, seeing as how that only makes matters with the Director worse. I just grit my teeth.

"well, alright then."

He cleared his throat and continued. "the group you're doing this with is gaining more fans each day, views on media sites skyrocketing. You're pretty fond of one of the members-Bangtan sonyeondan."

I scoffed and my mouth fell open. "Out of all of the groups why the hell did you pick-"

AJ was quick to interrupt. "She'll love this opportunity, I'll talk to her about the details of it some more, sir."

"Yes, you will. Now I need to make it clear that your past relationship with Jimin will not pose a problem. Bangtan PD is having a conversation with him as well. You will act professional and if you must, at least pretend to be nice in front of cameras, even if it is drama that the watchers crave you will not degrade yourself by giving it to them. Got it?"

I cracked a few knuckles. "Yes. I broke up with him in a civilized manner. It's not my fault he-"

"When will it start?" AJ asked, shooting me a look my mom used to shoot me when I was a child.

"Bags packed and out the door by noon tomorrow, you will arrive by 8 at night, so make your meal stops quick. Go back to the hotel and get your rest. Good job." He waved me away dismissively.

"Thanks." I said with an attitude as I turned and walked out. So, it seems tomorrow will start the first day of three long months that I'll be living under the same roof as seven other men, one of them being my ex...'great' I mumbled to myself as I could only imagine how this is going to go.

**Chapter 2**

"Yea yea, you've explained it all ten times at least AJ. I know I rely on you for a lot of things but that doesn't mean I'm incapable of handling them when it comes down to it." I said to AJ who was fixing a loose strand of hair and touching up my makeup for the last time this morning. "It does suck that you're not allowed to go though. Oh boy, I can't wait to see how lost Jimin is going to be when he must do everything on his own for on-"  
"None of that- it makes the prettiest people jealous. Now it's almost time to go, all your stuff is packed and it's an eight-hour drive. I want you to call me once a week got it" He said as he pulled me into a long hug. "I'll miss you, be careful" I swear he was about to start crying.  
"Yea AJ got it, I'll miss you too" I said as I pat his back. I took one last glance as I loaded myself onto the empty bus and sat down. When I wasn't sleeping or scarfing down fast food, I was gazing out at the beautiful landscape I would pass. My favorite time of day to watch the world (as cliché as it would seem) would be the few moments of sunlight that gets left peeking out from the horizon- where beams of light and few scattered clouds are visible on side but when you look the other way you say darkness coming closer like ink spilled on a sunny painting. The first few stars are beginning to shine against the blue-grey night. To me, this is when the sky is airbrushed with more colors than ever and the colors are hard to imitate. It's something that you would have to see for yourself to really see the natural beauty. Second to that would have to be when it rains in the sunlight-something about rain combined with the sun just radiates the feeling off bliss. I was panicking and I couldn't get my mind from everything when eventually I turned up the music and looked out the window, getting lost in the vivid haze and eventually falling into a light sleep.  
"We're here." The driver yelled back as he opened the luxury doors. I wiped the sleep off my eyes and stretched before looking out of the window. It was dark, but the camera men had bright lights to fill the void. I saw a total of three camera men, one pointed at my bus, one pointed at the apartments getting a sweep view of the place, and one filming a group of boys-BTS, go figure. My eyes instantly scanned around looking for him and was a bit relieved when I didn't see the bright pink. (Which seemed to be his newest fad now). There was also one more member missing, I think his name was Tae. All of what I know about them is from what I've seen on stage at award shows or what Jimin had told me within the 6 months that we'd dated. The only one Jimin would ever bring me around was Jungkook, so I was glad I had at least one familiar face here that I got along with. I got off the bus to everyone's eyes on me, making me immediately uncomfortable. One thing I was thankfully accustomed to was the presence of the cameramen. you eventually learn to disregard them to an extent.  
"Naomi!" called the happy voice of Jungkook as he ran up to me.  
"Can you believe it! I wanted to text you last night but decided to just wait until I saw you today. You look great I'm sorry I haven't talked to you much since the whole..." He trailed off.  
"It's fine JK, I missed you actually!" I said as ruffled his hair. His face got red and he smiled keeping his head down.  
"So where is everyone else" I said, referring to the two missing members, as I finally stepped off the bus, grabbing a big bag and a suitcase out of the storage compartment underneath.  
"Well Jimin's somewhere around here on the phone with Bangtan PD and Tae managed to get himself lost. So, I'm sure he'll be here eventually, but let me introduce you to the rest of the guys" He said as he reached out and grabbed my biggest bag to which I thanked him for.  
After dropping the bags off in the middle where a pile had grown, we walked to the group where the guys had been holding a conversation of their own.  
"Guys, this is our new roommate" Jungkook announced happily.  
"Like we couldn't tell" Suga said as he ran his hand through his slightly damp-from-sweat hair, more so as a compliment. "Nice work you do"  
"I never understood why Jimin never brought her around" Jin commented, giving a friendly hug. "It's nice to finally have someone as attractive as I am around" He laughed a little more than he should have, and finally let go of the embrace that was holding me to his shoulder.  
"Probably so she didn't have to suffer from your terrible jokes" Rap monster said as he playfully shoulder checked Jin to face me. "I look forward to doing a collab with you" He said as he shyly shook my hand.  
"I'm JHope-you probably already knew that though." A very enthusiastic member said as he jumped through the other two. "I'm a big fan of yours actually, I wish I could have met you before!" he pulled me into a hug as I awkwardly hugged back. It felt odd yet prideful to have somebody more famous than I am tell me they're a fan. They all seemed like a lively group, maybe it wouldn't be so bad.  
We were waiting on the guy from the rental agency to bring us the keys and explain the rules and what not to us as he was running late like Tae, so we were just laughing around and telling stories for a good ten minutes before we saw the sleek black car pull up. As we stopped talking Jimin came waltzing into the group and deciding to stand dead beside me.  
"How you been?" He asked as he tilted his head and stared at me with his piercing gaze. He didn't get any taller, but he could still take my breath away-and I was almost immune to good looks. Something about Park Jimin always seemed like he had his own gravitational force that pulls you in, whether you want to be pulled in or not.  
"I've been great, you?" I asked, throwing a bit of snark in my reply.  
He chuckled in a forced kind of way. "I've been fantastic. So much better ya know" he said with emphasis. We both kept on a forced smile as I cracked a few knuckles- so this is how it was going to be. 'oh boy, I can't wait to spend three months breathing the same air as you' I thought as we both stared each other down.

The rules explained were quite simple- no parties, there was a curfew of 10 o'clock for our own personal safety, and a manger hired by both Bangtan pd and the director will show up every other day for our training and to fill us in on the collaboration plans. He wouldn't be showing up until tomorrow so we could go ahead and get settled. We have a card to take to the shopping mart with us, so we pay for none of our groceries which was a nice plus. The stores were all walking distance, as we won't be provided with a vehicle.

The place on the other hand was not at all pleasing to me. It was built like a studio apartment just bigger. The kitchen was nice, this place was roomy. There were 3 different bathrooms, and two very large closets. There was a pool in the spacious backyard with a screened in porch. The problem was the rooms. Or, the 'not rooms'. There were 4 bunk beds in a neat row in the large "bedroom area". There was practically no privacy at all. This was normal for them so I would be the one getting accustomed to this. It only made my irritation worse. Jungkook caught on and was staying closer to me than the others, probably to make me feel comfortable. JHope would come bug me every now and then but it was alright, he really did like my music and it made me happy to know this. On the first row of bunk beds was Jin on the bottom and rap monster above him. Then you've got Jungkook on the bottom and me on top in the second row. In the third row there's Taehyung on the bottom (who'd made it here 2 hours after the meeting time) and go figure, damned Jimin above him... Right beside me. It's like he did it on purpose. Then finally there's Suga on the bottom and JHope up top on the last row. We'd already decorated our own little areas and called closet spaces-mine was in the same closet as Rapmon, Jin, suga, and Jungkook. Jimin was too slow to call the same closet to harass me even more. The closet was where we would do our changing in, if not there than the bathroom. I was really a little uncomfortable by all of it but they seemed unbothered so I brushed off my uneasiness as best I could.

"alright, to start off so it's fair we'll divide cooking each night between two people." Rap monster said as we had all settled down from moving our things in. It was about 11 at night and for tonight we had all just grabbed some easy things to eat. "I would say just go ahead and pair up with your bunk partner, but the company running the TV show would rather have us interacting amongst each other as much as we can soooo" he began to think and began pairing.

"Kookie and Jimin. Tae and I. Jin and Hobi. Suga and Nao." He said, already giving me a short nickname, Nao. Suga didn't seem too bad of a cook. "well start tomorrow, for now well say lights out by 11 for the days that were training."

We all said our goodnights and climbed into our beds. I'd avoided Jimin the whole day after our first meeting but that might be a bit harder to do having him not even 4 feet away. I refused to turn that way and faced rap monster instead.

"Naomi." I heard a whisper. I poked my head down to see Jungkook, my hair falling in a heap of waves upside down.

"what's up"

"I'm glad the collaboration is with you. I think we'll have a lot of fun. And I hope you and Jimin could fix whatever is wrong between the two of you and become friends again. Don't let him bother you too much right now he's just not sure how to face you is all" he said low enough for me (and I think Rapmon and jin as well) to hear.

I simply nodded and layer back down, not facing Jimin's direction the entire night.

**Chapter 3**

"unacceptable. Don't take this as a vacation, get up" a booming voice yelled. We all groggily rubbed our eyes, and some let out a few groans. It was 6am!

"you must be the trainer" Rapmon said sitting up.

"I am. Get up, get dressed, get outside. I won't wait long." the man said as he walked away. Well isn't this going to be fun...

We all shuffled out, heading to our closets and our bathrooms. Most of the guys were just changing out in the open. I didn't know whether I should feel uncomfortable or jealous of the fact that I couldn't do that. At least the space was big, and nobody was bumping into anybody else. After I changed, I splashed some water on my face and brushed my waves out. I opened the door to see Jungkook waiting for me at the door.

"this should be fun" he groaned as he walked with me outside with the others trailing in front or behind us.

"Next time it better be quicker." he said. "get in a line."

"next time let us know when you're coming so we can set an alarm" suga mumbled, unheard by the man.

"my names Mr. Kusagi, I'll be training you to have the best collaboration you've ever done. You will not make me look bad. You will listen to me or you will be voiding your contracts. We train from 6 to 5 every day you see me. If I feel like we need to be here longer than you will be here longer with no questions asked. Am I clear? "

We only nodded, which seemed to satisfy him anyways. We spent the time we woke up until noon going through the music well be doing, memorizing the lyrics, practicing parts, getting a feel for it. We stopped at noon all with growling stomachs.

"you've got an hour." he said as he went off to go get his own lunch.

"I'm afraid to go anywhere to eat, he might tell is were late when we get back ten minutes early." Sugar complained, getting agreements from the rest of us.

I let out a long yawn and felt sleepy all over again.

"How are you tired, we didn't do anything." Jungkook joked.

"I don't know, it seems like I'm always tired." I complained. "it gets in the way a lot really, it's inconvenient"

Jungkook went into thought as I looked over and saw gray contacts throwing a piercing gaze my way. Normally someone would blush and feel self-conscious, but I just stared right back at the pink haired man. He wasn't looking judgingly, though-it was more quizzically.

"well" I said after a minute. "I'm going to make something to eat. Jungkook you want anything?"

"I'll come too" Jungkook said, going to get up.

"I'll help her" Jimin interrupted, giving Jungkook a side glance, causing him to sit back down.

"you guys fine with sandwiches and chips? " Jimin asked as I rolled my eyes.

They all agreed, looking a bit confused on the fact that Jimin was coming to help of everyone. I'd already began grabbing the stuff out of the cupboards. We didn't start off with much so we would need to go to the store either today or tomorrow.

"what's your issue with me? " he asked loud enough for just me to hear.

I scoffed. "what's my issue with you? Says the one who's constantly giving me glares everywhere I go"

"you've been avoiding me. Can't we just bury the hatchet here? "

I slammed the peanut butter down on the counter and got a butter knife choosing to ignore him.

"Naomi. I'm sorry I overreacted when you broke up with me but I'm over it now, I've moved on."

"you were an ass, Jimin. The things happen you said I couldn't believe we're coming from you, you even had the nerve to bring my mother into it!" I half yelled half whispered. There was a camera man in the other room pointed at us, but he couldn't hear what was being said. I tried to control my facial expressions just as Jimin did.

"I know. Naomi, I don't know how to make it up to you, I'm sorry. I really am."

"if you're expecting forgiveness than forget it" I said as I finished putting the peanut butter on the sandwiches, him just beginning the jelly.

"that's your problem Nao. You jump to conclusions you don't listen you don't-"

"No, " I said putting my hand to his chest and pushing back slightly around the corner out of the cameras view.

"I don't have a problem. YOU have a problem. You refuse to change after I would constantly change things, I do to please you. And when things don't go your way it's MY fault. Now that I won't forgive you for you freaking out after I finally ended it between us MONTHS AGO it's my fault again?!" I said angrily as I pushed my finger into his chest.

"Naomi! " he went to protest as he grabbed my wrists and moved closer.

"Don't you dare touch me" I shouted as I swiftly moved back, bumping into someone who had just walked in in the process.

"Everything alright" Jungkook said to the both of us as he helped me steady myself. We looked past him at two camera men pointing at us. Well this is just great...

"were fine Jungkook. Why don't you take your little girlfriend back to the living room, I'll finish up here" he spat.

"girlfriend, really" I scoffed.

"well he follows you around like a lost damn puppy it's obvious he's got something for you" he said loudly, looking angry.

"Jimin you always were jealous of the simplest things" I remarked. Jungkook was quiet, looking a little offended as he glanced for camera to camera. I knew something like this would have happened eventually, but I didn't think it was going to be only our second day here...

"what's going on here?" Rapmon said followed by Jin, taking in the situation. Jungkook was still quiet standing behind me.

"it's nothing. Just putting things in clear view here." I said slightly embarrassed but more pissed than anything. I turned swiftly and pushed past the group of boys watching the scene unfold. Sugar and JHope were curiously watching from the couch. I heard a movement immediately behind me and didn't even have to guess who it was.

"yea, just like that. Go ahead and follow her around JK it's not like I already explained the situation to you a while ago or anything." Jimin yelled out to him as both me and Jungkook stopped. Rapmon began to try to calm Jimin down but Jungkook pushed him to the side grabbing Jimin by the collar and shoving him against the wall as the camera men moved closer and JHope and Suga shot up from the couch.

"Stop jumping to conclusions because you're blinded by jealousy Jimin" he shouted as Jimin glared at him. Jin reached out to get Jungkook off but was stopped by Rapmon who gave him a look that said, 'let them handle it'.

"I don't like her like that. I care about her, something you need to learn how to show. You're my best friend Jimin, like my brother. Stop thinking everyone who interacts with her is going to steal her from you, that's ridiculous. They're your brothers too and after dating her for that long you still could only bring her around me because you were worried about them stealing her from you? That's a low blow Jimin you should know they wouldn't do that. Maybe you wouldn't have had to worry about that if you treated her like a girlfriend and not a toy though isn-"

"Shut the hell up!" Jimin yelled as he shoved Jungkook off him and into Rapmon who stumbled back. Jimin looked around frustrated at the shocked and confused faces. You could see the slight betrayal on their faces at the fact that he would think that.

"This collaboration is one big joke. Count me out" Jimin said angrily as he shoved past everyone, giving me an unexplainable look as he past me.

"Jimin, you can't just-"

"Jin..." I said as I caught his shoulder as he tried to follow Jimin. He looked over at me with big puppy eyes "He'll be back. He just needs to cool off for a minute, it's probably best he does it alone" he took my words into deep thought for a moment before looking at the others as if asking if it was alright to leave him and finally let out a sigh.

It was quiet as the camera men blended back into the shadows and everyone was deep in their own thoughts.

Rapmon, Suga, and Hobi all finished the sandwiches and we took them to the large couch, eating silently.

"Sorry if this was my fault... " I said to them after I ate only half of my sandwich after my loss of appetite.

They all looked over with an expression of what I guess would be a mixture of pity and understanding, I wasn't too sure. Jin got up from the other side of Rapmon and sat cross legged right beside me.

"something like that can't really be blamed on one person, so don't worry about it. Nobody's mad at anybody here. It's just a caught in the moment kind of thing."

I absorbed his words and nodded as he smiled warmly and rubbed my head like I was five, earning him a playful push from me.

"yea" Hobi agreed as he plopped down on the other side of me. "he's just not sure how to take the fact that he'll not only be doing a collaboration with his ex, but he'll be living with her too"

Rapmon decided to inch closer to jin and lean forward to look at me. "Not to mention that he's sleeping practically right next to you. I noticed how you refused to turn that way last night"

I felt a small flick on the top of my head as I looked up too see Suga standing behind the couch leaning over it almost a little too close to my face for me to be comfortable.

"Don't overthink it. You'll drive yourself nuts, trust me. Just wait for him to come and apologize to you. He will eventually." He said nonchalantly. Our eyes stayed connected a little bit longer than they should have, but our staring was interrupted by a pat on my knee.

"Yea, brighten up. He can't void his contract with Bangtan PD anyways so don't worry about him leaving" Tae said as he sat on the floor in front of me. I agreed, taking in the moment before me. We had just met and already they made me feel accepted and we're trying to make me feel better. Jungkook was at the end of the couch smiling, enjoying the scene of the guys making me laugh and us joking around like old buddies after being kept from them before.

"but guys, what are we supposed to tell Mr. Kusagi? Cuz he just pulled back up" Jungkook said somehow amused still.

We all groaned wondering what was about to be in store for us now.

**Chapter 4**

"I see were missing someone? Care to explain?" Mr. Kusagi said as we were lined back up.

"anyone? No?" he said. He walked in front of me. "Why do I feel like its connected to the infamous ex-girlfriend?" He scrutinized.

"No disrespect Mr. Kusagi" Rapmon jumped in, his leadership skills taking charge. "but I don't think personal issues have anything to do with training."

I made eye contact with Rapmon as he sucked in a breath, thanking him for sticking up for me. He nodded as if to say thank you.

"actually, Kim Namjoon" Mr. Kusagi said as he walked towards Rapmon now, stopping in front of him. He reminded me of a military drill instructor.

"Personal issues have got EVERYTHING to do with training. How are you going to have a great performance if every single person Is not in sync with each other? You have to feel each other's presence, and this will not work if everyone isn't on the same page here, I will not tarnish my name and reputation because two little ex-lovers can't get over themselves and their pride."

He looked back over at me. "We can't continue without Jimin. The training will be uneven and scattered and it just won't do! We're cutting today's training short, I can't do it. You have until come back the day after tomorrow to get you're shit right, you all better be on the same viewpoint." He was furious and overreacting to be honest, he took his work way too seriously. The camera crew were all over this.

He walked over to me and got a little too close for comfort. "If it's not fixed you know what will happen don't you? Director told you to keep yourself composed. We will remove your mother from the care of the hospital and you'll ultimately owe-"

"I'm aware of what the hell will happen, but thanks for the reminder" I spat. I can't believe he just said that on camera. Nobody and I mean nobody except Director, AJ, and Jimin know about my mom's health condition. And he just said that all on television. I looked over at the others who had a mixture of anger, pity, and confusion on their faces. It was a touchy subject and the fact that he just said that was a lot for me to hold in. I felt my face get hot and tears threatening to fall. Suga, who was closest by me must have caught on and he grabbed me by the wrist.

"We're done here" He said as he glared at Mr. Kusagi and dragged me inside. It had been so long since I cried in front of anybody. That thought made me think back to when I'd explained the story to Jimin. It was one of the few moments he'd showed any kind of compassion and affection. It only made matters worse that one of the cameramen decided to follow us in inside.

"damn" Suga mumbled. He was quick to think and yanked the door to the bathroom open and pulled the both of us inside, locking the door.

I felt the first tear fall and knew and knew It was any moment before I started sobbing. Suga put the toilet seat cover down and sat me down on it. He sat on the other half of it with his back resting on my back, so that he was facing the other direction. I think he knew I didn't want anyone to see me cry-who would? But I still wanted some comfort and he knew exactly what to do. I know he could feel my body shake from the sobs by the way he reacted. He reached for my hand, not so much as a romantic kind of hand holding but like a comforting 'I'm here for you kind of way, which threw me off coming from Suga. We both didn't say a word, he only held my hand as he leaned against me, silently telling me it was alright to cry. "Thank you, Suga" I said as I squeezed his hand and let it go to wipe the tear streaks from my face. I took a long sigh and let my head fall and rest against the back of his neck. I felt his weight shift as he let his head rest back as well.

"I know we just met, and it might be weird, sorry it was so sudden. But I feel like you're like me in a sense and I felt like I had to help."

"I'm glad you did it."

"You don't have to talk about it now, but if you ever need to talk about anything I'll be here."

"thank you, really." I said, glad I made a new friend like him.

"but I suppose we should go back out there with everyone, they're probably worried. We've been in here for a while now" He said as he got up and scratched the back of his head and turned, taking my hand to help me up.

"I suppose your right, it has been like 10 minutes" I laughed. We paused looking at each other for a moment when I erased my arms around his neck and got on my toes to hug him close.

"Seriously though, thank you a lot" I said giving a squeeze and then letting go.

"Aish, you think too deep" he said as he turned his face, I saw a bit of blush and smiled-it was kind of adorable to see Suga caught off-guard like that.

"Naomi! " everyone called as I stepped into the living room. They were all just sitting on the couch. Jungkook was the first to get to me, pulling me into a tight hug to which I returned. the rest followed suit, JHope swaying me from side to side, Taehyung lifting me up and plopping me back down, rap monster giving me an awkward hug, jin patting my head as he did so.

"thanks guys, I'm alright. " I smiled. They made me feel so much better. I wasn't used to this really, it was normally just AJ and though he tried he wasn't the best at lifting my spirits. We all talked and played around for quite a bit. Somehow my mind kept wandering off to Jimin. I looked at the clock and was surprised to see that it was already 4 in the afternoon. We'd watched some shows and talked some more before I got up, heading outside.

There was a camera man that lingered by the door, a little uninterested in what I was doing when I sat on the step. Nobody else followed me as they were all having a good time inside, which was more than okay with me.

I took out my phone and dialed the number I thought I'd never dial again but couldn't seem to forget.

"...hey" said the familiar voice. I was expecting an angry response but what I got was softer, kinder. It was strange.

"hi" I said. It was a bit awkward for a minute. "where are you? " I asked. I corrected myself after," like, are you okay? You're not lost of anything? " I was stuttering like an idiot.

I heard him chuckle lightly on the other end. "yea. I'm close. I suppose It won't kill me to walk back." he said. I didn't say anything, only agreeing in silence. "I'll see you in a few" he said.

"yea. " I said as we hung up. What was I doing? I sighed and put my head between my knees. My mind was a mess, really.

I heard a shuffle beside me and looked over to see Tae sit beside me.

"Tae, what's up" I said I straightened up a bit.

"You alright? " He asked, concern slightly on his face.

"yea I'm fine, just came out here. It's pretty" I said, admiring the sun falling behind the trees and the streets in front of us. I felt Tae's arm wrap around my shoulder. I looked over at him admiring the view. Looking at him up close like this nobody could deny how good looking he was. I was almost jealous.

"You know" he said looking at me and then proceeding to rest his head on my shoulder. "We usually don't let people get into our 'clique' this easily. But you managed to do it in just two days. I just wanted you to know that if you need anything well be here, even after the collaboration period is over." I took in his words, really appreciating them.

"Jeez Tae, it's not like you to be emotional like this" I said pushing him off playfully. He mocked being offended. We laughed for a small moment before I looked at him. "thanks Tae. You guys are really good people." He ruffled my hair before getting up and walking back inside.

I sat out, leaning against the railing admiring the sunset and I somehow managed to fall asleep for a good 30 minutes at least.

"Hey, sleepy head. Wake up" I woke up to a voice as a small finger lightly tapped my cheek. I groaned, momentarily forgetting where I was. I felt a chuckle brush against my face and felt a hand placing hair behind me my ear. My senses snapped back into place and my eyes shot open to see Jimin leaning down close to my face. He froze, his hand still against my head.

I caught myself staring into his eyes just as hard as he was staring into mine, I felt my heart beat a little faster before I snapped myself back to reality.

"why are you touching me? "

He looked taken back a hit, but not necessarily surprised. What could he have been expecting?

"sorry." he said as he stood back up and put his hands in his pockets. He looked at the ground. "And sorry about earlier too. That was uncalled for."

I opened my eyes wide "Jimin apologizing. Will hell freeze over next? Am I going to see a pig flying behind you? " I said with barely a smile.

He smirked-I used to love that smirk. "Still Sarcastic as ever. So, do you forgive me."

I thought for a while. "I forgive you for what you did earlier today." I said, being clear that it was only what he did today that I forgive him for. "But I think you need to apologize to JK. They're all worried about you in there."

"what if I want to stay out here for a little longer instead? " he asked.

I almost had the urge to cuddle up on the step next to him and have a long conversation about nothing at all, but I caught myself and stood up.

"you can if you want. But I'm heading inside." I said to him, seeing disappointment on his face as I turned.

I went to open the door as I saw Rapmon come out. "Ah, Jimin! Just in time" he said, giving a dismissing look to the both of us out here. "I have to run to the store, we have no food. It's you and JKs turn to cook. Get everything ready, Naomi, come to the store with me." he said.

"sure" I said. We walked down the steps and Jimin placed his hand on Rapmon shoulder as he walked down, as if saying sorry. Rapmon pat his shoulder in return and they exchanged small smiles.

"Be safe." he said to me as we made eye contact. I only nodded, not wanting to raise his hopes of anything. I don't know what he thought was going to happen but whatever it is he's sorely mistaken.

**Chapter 5**

"I knew it was only a matter of time" Rapmon said on our way back from the store. The walk there was short, we didn't talk much at all, just commenting on the scenery. We'd had out hands full with bags and they were getting heavy to me.

"I kind of called him" I said guiltily.

"why do you make it sound like a bad thing? " he asked, glancing at me and then ahead.

I sighed. "I'm not too sure, to be honest. Just feel like doing that opened a door that shouldn't have been opened... a door that should have been locked, with 14 locks, and then chained up."

He laughed. "Doors are built to be opened right?"

"or they're built to keep things out... " I responded. He looked straight ahead.

"the glass is either half full or half empty." he stated. I looked up at him. Jeez this guy was tall.

"you're like the wise old man of the group, aren't you? " I smiled.

He laughed again, showing off his dimple. His laugh was pure. "No, Suga is the old man of the group." he said. The rest of the walk was spent giving the members their own little titles and laughing about it.

"that only leaves me? As the collaboration I'd say that makes me part of the group in a sense for now. What does that make my title?" I asked smiling as we walked up to the house.

"You're going to have to get back to me on that one. I need to see more before I go making it official"

"fair enough"

"Cheater!" I heard a yell. Me and Rapmon looked at each other and ran inside.

"You can't do that! You'll be punished by the maknae!" Jungkook yelled as he lunged onto Jimin's back who just continued to get up with a smile on his face.

"what's all the noise in here for" Rapmon asked. They both turned to see us standing at the door and stood up.

"we were playing this game and Jimin cheated"

" I did not cheat, I simply bent the rules is all"

"that's cheating! Stop trying to find loopholes!" Jungkook said as he playfully pushed Jimin who laughed as he pushed his hair back.

It made me happy to see them getting along again.

"well here, take the groceries and start cooking" Rapmon said as he handed his bags over. Jimin took the bags from me without even brushing against my hand, making it obvious that he was avoiding doing so.

Dinner was quick, and everyone had taken showers and was doing their own things. It was 30 minutes till lights out at this point. Rapmon was listening to headphones writing things down, Suga was watching a movie in the living room with Tae getting onto Jin and Jimin every ten minutes or so for being loud and laughing which would cause Tae to do the same and Suga would have to rewind the movie to show Tae parts he'd missed. Me, Jungkook, and JHope were already ready for bed laying all kinds of ways on Jungkook's twin sized bed showing each other funny pictures and videos, or cool fact videos. Anything random really. JHope saw a hair tutorial video on my phone and tried to attempt doing it on mine and resulted in both he and Jungkook spending 10 minutes brushing out knots in my damp hair. Before we knew it was 11.

"Alright guys, let's go" Rapmon said as he climbed into the bed, everybody else following suit. Though I was tired, I found myself unable to sleep. I tossed and turned for quite a bit and could hear a symphony of light snores from a few and loud snores from others. I felt like the only awake. Though I was trying to not turn towards Jimin I did, startled when I got settled over and I saw his eyes flutter open, making immediate contact with mine. He stared for a moment before he grabbed his phone from under his pillow and began doing something on it. I watched the light hit his face in a way that showed off his cute cheeks and his sharp jawline. Suddenly I felt a light buzz from beside me and my phone lit up. I already knew who it was.

_'I didn't apologize for everything I wanted to earlier.' _

I glanced up to him looking at me in a way that said, 'please respond'. I only raised my eyebrows and slightly nodded my head as if telling him go ahead. I'd prefer he did it in person instead of over text, but this was almost the same thing. And for Jimin to be apologizing was a big task. I watched as he typed his message, seeing the emotions play across his face as he typed. I waited patiently for the buzz, immediately unlocking my phone as it went off.

_'I messed up. I don't know why it took me so long to realize it. I honestly can't tell you why I was the way I was. You make me want to be better. And I'm so sorry about everything I've ever said. I know you may not believe me, but I meant none of it. And I didn't bring you around the guys because I was too controlling, and I didn't want you to decide any of them were better than me. But I went about everything the wrong way. And I went about our breakup the wrong way as well. I tried to turn the fans I had against you that was a low blow. A second chance is the last thing I'm asking for so don't take it like that. I'm asking for you to forgive me for being such an ass and asking you to please be my friend.'_

I looked over again seeing him staring at me. I knew he was looking the whole time, it made me a bit uncomfortable but at the same time it felt normal. I sighed.

_'all of it's in the past, I guess. Don't sweat it. As long as you're serious and you'll control yourself I don't have a problem with any of it'_

I watched him read the message and smile brightly. I couldn't help but make a small smile back and roll my eyes playfully.

_'thank you, Naomi. Goodnight'_

I read the message and glanced at him one last time, throwing him a half smile and closing my eyes, feeling like a weight just came off my shoulders and drifting into a peaceful sleep.

"Naomi" I heard a voice.

"hey" I felt myself being shaken.

I opened my eyes groggily to see Jungkook and Tae looking at me from the bottom of the bed.

"It's like 1 In the afternoon. Do you usually sleep in like this? "JK asked.

"One" I shot up. I feel like my whole day was just wasted. "No, I usually have someone waking me up. This has only happened like 3 times before" I said thinking back. I always had training or practice or meetings or somewhere to be, so I was always woken up.

"we didn't know if we should've let you sleep or not"

"yea we know you're always tired, so we just let you"

I groaned. "What's everyone else up to?"

"What aren't they up to? " JHope smiled widely. He turned back to Jungkook. "I'm going back out there". Jungkook nodded and said he'd be out a little later, turning his attention back to me as JHope ran out the door. I looked at him questioningly.

"They went to the store and got a bunch of games for outdoors. We were playing football for quite a while. I wanted to check on you since I noticed you still hadn't come out." he explained. I nodded in understanding.

I was a little surprised when Jungkook began climbing up the bed, but still scooted over to make room for him.

"Are you alright?" he asked after he got comfortable, letting his legs rest over mine.

"yea, I'm fine" I said, looking a little confused.

"I just-me and Jimin were talking about it. You never used to sleep so often. It could be bad health."

I smiled "you guys worry too much. Thanks, but I'm just a naturally tired person is all" I assured. I changed the subject "so you and Jimin? " I said as I raised my eyebrows and leaned closer. He playfully pushes me back.

"were perfectly fine. He was jealous is all-go figure. He'd told me before when the two of you were dating not to get close to you. But we're alright" he was glancing off as he spoke.

"sounds like him" I said, not helping but to be a little aggravated at the fact that Jimin told this to Jungkook.

"But seriously is it 1 o'clock? " I asked, hoping it was a joke.

"sadly, it is. Come on the guys want to play a game with you at least once."

"yea, Gimmie like 10 minutes to wake up and grab some food? I'll meet you out there" I said as I flung the covers off my legs and hopped down behind JK.

I was quick to grab a pop tart and brush my teeth, wash my face, brush out my hair and tie it up. It was hot out, so I put on a blue T-shirt and a pair of cutoff shorts, heading right outside.

"No, that's not right! Put the net up lower. It needs to go out more!" JHope was calling across the fenced in apartment yard to Suga who looked like he hated life right about now.

"Naomi!" Tae called as he skip walked happily over.

"what's all this" I asked.

"were setting up the equipment we got from the store while you were sleeping. We got a football too, but we've already played so many games of it. This time it's soccer."

"nice" I said, feeling like I had an upper hand as soccer was a sport, I was quite familiar with from middle school.

"Naomi's on our team!" Tae called to everyone as he grabbed my hand and held it above our heads.

"What! Says who! " Hobi yelled.

"says the fact that you already have 4 members and we have 3! Naomi would make the 4th! It's fair" Tae called back.

"Take Jin! Trade we want a trade!" Hobi yelled flailing his arms towards Jin who let his mouth fall in shock.

"You'll just trade your Hyung like that! How disrespectful! Someone needs to show you some manners! " Jin yelled walking towards JHope.

"Teams have been decided, let's get started. I'm gonna die out here" Suga called as he seems to have finished the soccer net.

"Let's go" Tae said as he still held my wrist and ran to the other goal.

It was Hobi, Jin, Rapmon, and Jimin against me, Tae, Suga, and Jungkook. I had pretty good faith in this game.

The game was not at all close. My team was kicking some serious ass, Suga, though very unenthusiastic and complainy, was a surprisingly good goalie. Tae and Jungkook were just about as good as I was at soccer, and we were making shots left and right.

Meanwhile, Jin kept to the outsides of our fake field and didn't run much, yelling playfully at everyone else and fanning himself. I don't know how many times I heard him he refused to get himself dirty because he was too good looking to slide around on dirt and grass. JHope tried hard to make shots but we were too quick, and he would just flail his arms and do a weird yell thing. Jimin and I almost tripped up over each other a few times. I feel like if he had the right teammates, he would've scored some shots of his own. Rapmon had the legs for soccer but he was a slow mover.

We spent a good 2 hours playing and we were pretty worn out, not to mention hungry.

"I don't see how you guys are laying on a pile like that, it's wayyy to hot." Jin said as he sat a few feet away Criss cross.

"Me either. I want to go take a nap in a freezer" Suga said as he was laid out on his back across from jin.

"don't be jealous Suga, you can come join us" Jimin teased. Suga scoffed.

When the game was done Tae and JK grabbed each other and fell to the floor, breathing heavily and laying back laughing looking at the few clouds out. JHope had lunged down between them, Jimin following and lying beside JHope. I was standing by watching when suddenly Tae had pulled my hand and I was sprawled out over he and JHope. Rapmon had laid across us but placed his insanely long legs over me and one of them over Tae. There was a small moment when me and Jimin happened to catch each other glancing before we let out small laughs. I really felt like I could get used to this.

**Chapter 6**

It had been a month since I arrived, I was enjoying my time here to the fullest. On days we had no training we went out sightseeing or playing around or watched movies. The training days were beginning to kill us. We'd just gotten the choreography memorized-it was hard, and it felt so fast paced. Me and Jimin texted each other goodnight every night since he'd apologized. Why we didn't just say it in person I have no idea. We laugh and joke around just like the others but something about it is different-there's chemistry. Our eyes stay on each other longer than necessary. I find myself missing the old days where we were all cute together. But I did my mind of the thoughts as soon as I realize I am thinking them. My relationship with everyone has grown, really.  
Me and Jungkook are always at each other's side. It's like he's my lost little puppy. I've come to him when I want to talk about anything related to my relationship with Jimin. He'd seen it before so of course he won't egg me on to do anything. He said it makes him super excited that we're friends again, but he doesn't think it's a good idea to escalate anything from there. There's been a few days when-after everyone, including Jimin is asleep- I'll sneak down to Jungkook's bed or he'll sneak up to mine so we can whisper about whatever. There are some nights he wakes me up just because he can't sleep, and he misses home. Jin caught us one night, and instead of yelling at the two youngest people he hopped in bed and joined us. Everybody woke up in shock that day as the three of us were huddled on the small bed because we accidentally fell asleep, JHope and Tae were mad we didn't wake them to join. It sparked up another small fight between me and Jimin as well as he and Jungkook, but it blew over after about a day.

JHope was his usual self; he'd gotten more comfortable with me, so he wasn't holding back any of his...specialness. And by that, I mean a mixture of small pranks or randomly dancing right beside me, making either no noises or singing very obnoxiously. Sometimes it was funny. We didn't really hang out one on one, he was usually following Tae around when Tae wasn't screwing off with Jimin or Jungkook (Either that or it was one big obnoxious group that day). Tae liked to talk to me about his puppy or any other animal really, which was fine by me considering I love animals. He treated me like a little sister. It makes me laugh how Jimin gets mad when Jungkook even ruffles my hair but Tae could do the same or wrap his arm around me and even put his nose to mine (Which was a bit weird at first) and he won't get the slightest bit bugged by it.

Jin is a lot more energetic than you think he'd be. He likes to tell the others to leave the room when he's eating but tell me to stay and eat with him. We've bonded quite a bit during lunches. If you weed out his terrible jokes, he's pretty funny-and super extra. But it's adorable on him. He's always with Rapmon other than that or trying to make Jimin or Jungkook laugh. Rapmon wasn't the talkative type. If we were together with just the two of his he'd ask me for help on the choreography or we'd talk about a book or watch something educational. It was calm and relaxing when I was with him.

The problem I had was Suga. I found myself scanning the room for him more than the others. Once I did see him, he either looked over at me at the same time or he'd already be looking. When he caught my gaze, our eyes would linger and we'd both blush. Not even the observant Namjoon had caught onto these subtle moments yet but that was more than alright with me. I didn't know what to do about it, but I didn't like it and it was only getting worse. We're on cooking duty together some days and we'll be grabbing things and our hands touch. At first, we'd quickly move away and blush and look the other way, but the past few times we've let our hands brush, even sliding our thumbs across each other's as we moved our hands. We didn't talk much, however. I feel like we both just weren't sure what to say. It was only a matter of time before someone saw the way we looked at each other. But it was just something about the pale boy that made me attracted to him, and the way he helped me out when I first got here will always stick with me.

"ow" I coughed as we got back into the house, holding my chest. We had just got back from practicing the choreography yet again.  
"Again? Are you sure you're alright?" Jungkook asked.  
"Yea, probably just doing too much." I brushed it off yet again. The past few practices I've been coming back with a tight pain in my chest, and my breathing a bit shallow. AJ said he wouldn't worry too much, I was probably just doing more activity than I should've been when I called. I felt all eyes on me.  
"Guys I'm fine, just being a drama queen about a little ache. I'm gonna jump in the shower first" I assured them as I walked off into the bathroom, locking the door behind me and starting the shower. I sat on the toilet for a moment. It was a little worse than usual today and each beat of my heart felt like a light punch to my chest. I concentrated on evening my breathing, finding it to help a small bit. I got up and moved slowly, thinking maybe I would go get myself checked out just to ease my slight worries. I stepped into the shower, the warm water only seeming to make me feel worse. I coughed a couple times out of habit I guess, and my vision started suddenly fading and it became harder to breathe. I felt (And heard) My breathing become a bit panicked and I'm guessing one of the guys heard me as well.  
"Naomi?" A voice asked. "Are you okay?" I was too focused on trying to find my breath, it was just murmuring outside that advanced into louder and more murmurs, sounding a bit freaked. My vision became black dots and I think I passed out for a few seconds, but came to when I heard a loud bang and was falling downwards.  
Expecting a hard impact against the tub wall and floor, I was shocked to feel a pair of hands catch my fall instead.  
"Get me a towel!" I heard a voice yell as I was fading in and out. The hand reached over and turned the shower off, proceeding to cover me in a towel like it was a blanket. I heard many frantic voices.  
"Should we call police?"  
"Yea!"  
"No, she'll be okay, I think it's a panic attack"  
"We need to get her calm"  
I heard the voice of the man holding me. "Everybody go to the living room, I don't know what it was a second ago but I can tell she's having a panic attack right now we need to give her space, I'll get her calm I just can't have everyone in here freaking her out" I heard faintly through my heavy breathing the sound of footsteps shuffling.  
"You too Jimin, She'll be fine" The voice said.  
There was a pause before the footsteps exited and I felt hands on my face.  
"Nao" The voice said. My vision was no longer splotchy. "Nao, can you hear me" he said. I nodded. I blinked a few times to see Suga. He had his hands cupping my face, holding my head up to look at him. He was kneeled in the tub in front of me while I was leaning on him, a towel draped over me to cover me. His hair was wet in the front as well as his t-shirt from the shower before he'd turned off the water.  
"Nao you got to breathe, take deep breaths in through your nose" He said clearly. I nodded, trying my best to do so.  
"You'll be fine. We'll figure it out you just got to think for a minute. I'm here alright." I simply nodded.

We sat there for quite a bit, my heart pounding in my chest. My breathing was much slower, though still not completely back to normal. He sat the whole time telling me it would be alright. He had moved to sit with his back against the tub wall and his feet against the other end as if he were taking a bath. I had my head leaned against his chest, listening to his heart beat as he stroked my hair. My arms were curled up to my chest clutching the towel and my legs were tucked between his. Under any other circumstances we would both be blushing madly, but the setting was all wrong right now for that.  
"Is she alright?" I heard a voice whisper. I wasn't asleep but my eyes were resting closed as I breathed deeply. I already knew who it was, and I could imagine the look on his face as he saw the scene in front of him.  
"She's a lot better" Suga said lowly as I felt the bass in his voice vibrate through his chest.  
"What the hell happened?" Jimin asked.  
"I'm not sure. But whatever it was must have freaked her out and threw her into her panic attack. She definitely needs to go see a doctor, though."  
"Yea" Jimin agreed. "I'll call Bangtan PD and explain the situation so he could get a hold of AJ. He needs to set her an appointment."  
"Can you help?" Suga said as he shuffled underneath me. Jimin moved slowly towards us. "Pull my jacket sleeve-it's a little wet but it'll do for now."  
I felt more shuffling. I attempted to get myself up, but I felt so weak. I've had panic attacks before and they've never felt like this afterwards.  
"hey, you're fine we got it" Jimin said.  
I felt Suga drape his jacket over me and push me up.  
"I'll take care of it, just keep facing the door" I heard Jimin say with a twinge of threat in his voice.  
"Yea, yea" Suga mumbled. Jimin zipped the jacket up for me and lifted me out of the tub, helping suga out as he steadied me.  
"I'm gonna get her into something else" Jimin said as he picked me up princess style and carried me to the room, setting me on Jin's bed.  
He went out to the closet and came back out with large sweatpants and a baggy shirt.  
"Here" He said handing them to me and turning around, facing the opposite direction.  
"Tell me if you need help"  
I slowly struggled to put the clothes on, almost falling over. What the hell was wrong with me? I felt so incapable.  
"Okay" I said as I was finished. He went to pick me up again, but I stopped him.  
"I don't need all that, it's embarrassing" I said.  
He let out a sigh. "Well at least get on my back." He said. I agreed with this one and wrapped my arms around him as he lifted my legs in a piggy back. He walked me to the large couch and dropped me gently on it.  
"I've got food cooking; some chicken soup is almost done" I heard Jin call from the kitchen. Everybody looked so worried.  
"It might help if you eat and you go to sleep" Rapmon said as he rested his hand on my head. "Are you alright?"  
I simply nodded. Nobody really said anything, only inched closer. Suga turned on the TV for background noise.  
"I'm gonna help Jin and grab some blankets, I still gotta go call Bangtan PD." Jimin said.  
As soon as he walked away Suga was on the floor in front of me.  
"How are you feeling?" He said as he nonchalantly picked up a strand of my damp hair and dropped it back down. Jungkook shuffled uncomfortably on the other side of the couch.  
"I'm fine...it's weird. I feel so weak. I think I just need to go to bed."  
"Not before you eat" I heard Jin say as he brought out a bowl of soup to me.  
"I made enough for everyone, even though it wasn't my day to cook. I figured we'd switch it up today" He said. Everyone went to the kitchen to get their bowls, leaving me alone to eat my own. Jungkook was the one to come back and sit beside me as we ate in silence. Something about Jungkook was...off. I don't know what it is though.  
"You finished?" He asked.  
"Yea, thanks" I said as he took my bowl from me. It was only about 7pm but nobody was up to stay up late today-training got us tired anyways.  
"You have an appointment the day after tomorrow" Jimin said as he brought a large blanket into the room. He draped it over me as he sat down beside me. I nodded as if saying okay.  
Jungkook sat on the other side of me as Tae set up the TV for a movie. I yawned and decided to lay down, putting my head in Jimin's lap and my legs draped over Jungkook. Jungkook got comfortable and rested his arms over my legs but Jimin seemed to tense up in surprise. It'd been a while since we've had physical contact like this, and I know he probably nervous. For some reason it made me smile to myself to know he was all fidgety.  
Everybody sat down for the movie, but I think I fell asleep about 10 minutes in. It was a peaceful sleep, whether it was because I was tired or because Jimin was rubbing my arm and playing with my hair the whole time I'm not sure.

**Chapter 7**

I was the first to wake up, it was just starting to get light outside. I felt a weight on my legs and looked down to see Jungkook had fallen asleep. His legs were up on the couch and he had me in an almost bear hug as his head resting against my side. I smiled at the youngest member of BTS and pet his hair, causing him to shift his head a little. He was so pure it was adorable.

I moved my head back to Jimin's lap. He'd fallen asleep sitting up, slightly slouched. Regardless of the position he looked peaceful and comfortable. 'God that jawline, his features are so sharp... ' I thought, wanting to squeeze his cheeks like a grandmother would to their 5-year-old grandson.

I noticed that everyone else had fallen asleep in the living room as well. I first noticed Suga's fluffy hair at my stomach as he slept like a baby with his back against the couch, sitting up so he was resting against me.

I looked down some more to see Rap monster leaning against Suga's shoulder, his back resting against Jimin's legs. Jin was laying his head in Rapmon's lap as his face looked nothing but perfect as he slept. Tae was in the recliner with JHope slung over him, snoring loudly. It was a scene that made me happy and gave me a sense of protection, really. I felt at home with these boys. It was sad that all of this was going to end in only another month and a half.

I heard a phone ring from the kitchen and realized that it was mine. I got up as easily as I could, surprisingly not waking anyone as I rushed to my phone quietly. I was feeling so much better already.

"hello"

"Naomi?" the voice asked. My heart melted in my chest, I'd been waiting for a phone call since before my concert.

"Mom" I breathed out. I felt tears I instantly prick my eyes and I walked out back into the cool morning air.

"Mom, how are you! You don't know how much I've missed you! " I said.

"I'm good honey, I'm good" She said. I ignored the fact that she sounded the exact opposite of good. "AJ snuck me a phone call. I'm not supposed to contact you until after your collaboration, so I don't distract you from your work. I heard you're not feeling well"

"no, I'm completely fine now, how are you doing? Are you getting any better?" Finally, being able to talk to her was so great. I didn't talk to her much at all, but it was my work and what I was doing that was keeping her in the hospital and keeping her treatments in effect. I would give up anything to help her, even if it meant not being able to spend time with her-I would see her when she gets better and we're going to live a happy life that she always wanted for us.

"They're going good honey I should be back to normal in just a few months"

I laughed, a tear falling. "That's so good to hear mom, I can't wait to see you! I promise as soon as this collaboration is done, I'm coming straight to the hospital"

I heard her sniffle and laugh a little bit. "But I've got to go honey, I can't talk long AJ has to rush somewhere-you know him always busy."

"I love you mom, see you soon"

"you too sweetie, I'm proud of you"

I felt a mixture of happiness and sadness as the phone clicked off. I wiped the tears that had accumulated and went to walk inside.

"Oh! " I said, startled as Jimin was standing at the door. "Jimin what the hell" I said.

"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you. You look like you're feeling better." he said, pushing his hair back, showing more of his forehead.

"yea I feel fine, thanks for that yesterday" I said.

He stepped down, looking at me quizzically. "So... your mom" he asked, motioning with his head to the phone as he out his hands in his pockets.

"ah, yeah. She says she's doing better. AJ let her make a quick phone call. I haven't talked to her in so long" I said, already back to feeling like I hadn't talked to her in forever.

"I know you haven't seen her in a long time. Just keep up all your good work" he said. Jimin never knew what to say to make me feel better, but I smiled at his attempt.

"yea" I chuckled.

"what" he asked as he tilted his head devilishly.

"oh nothing" I joked as I went to walk past him and inside the house.

"tell me" he laughed as he jumped up from behind and grabbed me by my waist, pulling me back. Our laughing was cut short when we were face to face with each other.

We both didn't move for a good moment and he tilted his head in more, moving his lips towards mine.

Against every bone in my body I pulled back before our lips made contact.

"sorry" I mumbled as I ducked my head down and walked back into the house, leaving him standing outside confused and hurt.

I ran into the bathroom and shut the door. Why did I just do that? Or why did I not do it? What the hell. The last thing I need in my life in Park Jimin. The relationship we had was toxic. But he seems like he's changed...  
'No damnit' I reminded myself. 'No second chances.'  
I splashed my face with cold water. I need to get away from here-well,_ him._ I need to get him out of my mind. I need to stop reminiscing old time times and stop imagining what things _could _be because they _don't need to be._ I knew just what to do.  
I opened the door and checked for Jimin. He was nowhere inside and nowhere out back or front. My guess is he went out walking. I did feel a twinge of guilt, but it made it alright since he probably feels exactly the way he made me feel countless times when we were together.  
"Hey" I whispered, tapping Suga's baby face. He groaned and slightly turned.  
"Suga" I said a little louder. He moved closer to me and leaned in, but the way I was kneeling I couldn't support him, and I fell backwards as he fell too, landing on top of me with a thud.  
"Ow" I half whispered, and I felt him lift his weight up slightly. His eyes were groggy and squinted and he pushed his hair from my face. Expecting a shocked reaction from him, I was surprised when he only gazed into my eyes. I didn't know what to do and I felt my face heating up.  
"Kind of like the other night, but backwards huh?" I half laughed.  
"Yea, and I'm not naked" He said as if it were nothing. It threw me off that he said it and my face got blood red as I turned my head away. Jungkook shuffled on the couch but surprisingly everyone was still asleep.  
He used his two fingers to push my cheek so that I was facing him, our noses almost touching.

"What's up?" He asked quietly as he let his hand down, leaving my face red and my heart beating.

"I just- I was…Did you want to go do something, maybe?" I asked nervously. He thought for a moment before getting up and ruffling his hair.

"I've got just the place"

Me and Suga walked in awkward silence. The zoo wasn't far at all. With it now being a date, I wasn't sure how to react. Suga seemed nonchalant and amused by the whole thing which made me anxious and nervous. A date, huh? For some reason I never took Suga as the type to do these sorts of things.  
"You're straggling behind" He said as he looked back.  
"Oh, sorry" I said as I sped up to get to his side.  
"Guess it can't be helped" He said as he slipped his hand into mine and grabbed onto my hand. I looked over at him, he was trying to keep a poker face but I laughed inside at the blush creeping to his face as he kept his head slightly turned the other way.  
"Two tickets" Suga asked the lady at the zoo as he handed her twenty dollars.  
"The last time I went to the zoo was forever ago!" I said excitedly as we got in. We walked towards a map of the place.  
"Director doesn't let me do anything it sucks. It's always works"  
"We got lucky with Bangtan PD. he's a good guy" Suga said.  
"What are we seeing first" He asked as he looked at the map.  
"Oh I know! Let's start with the elephants!" I aid happily. You could tell this zoo was much smaller than other zoo's, but I was still excited.  
Suga laughed, "You know, JHope fears elephants. We have to take a picture for him"  
"Scared of elephants?" I giggled as we walked towards the elephant habitat. "What an odd fear"  
Suga seemed a bit more outgoing at the zoo, he was laughing and smiling, and we were talking about all sorts of things. He found it so amusing that the elephants were rocking their heads back and forth. We went to see the orangutans next. We got to feed them-I'd never fed an animal at a zoo before usually you aren't allowed to. Luckily it wasn't busy and the cameraman that had followed us discreetly made sure no fans were following us around too close. Pictures were snapped and some yelled out to us, but it wasn't too bad. Next, we saw baby elephants and we got to touch them! We fed them carrots and then moved on to see a large snake that kind of freaked me out. Lastly, we went and seen a large parrot, which seemed to be Suga's favorite out of all of them, we even got to give it some sunflower seeds.  
"I had fun, thank you!" I said to Suga as we exited, walking back. I was half skipping with his hand in mine as he smiled.  
"Thanks for asking me to come with you" Suga said. We exchanged eye contact and I was the first to look away and blush.  
"You know, I had fun today. To be honest..." Suga started. "No never mind" He brushed off, piquing my interest.  
"What?" I pushed.  
"It's nothing, it's lame" He shrugged.  
"Come on Suga, tell me!"  
"Forget it!" He laughed as I wrapped around him pleading.  
"Min Yoongi!" I begged.  
He looked down at me, still smirking a little. "I like the way that sounds coming from you. You should use my name more often... I mean, if you want-I'm not telling you to call me it, just ya know if you wanted to call me that instead-"  
"Well, Yoongi, what were you going to say?" I asked as I stood back up and followed his pace.  
He sighed. "I was saying, to be honest, this was my first date since Bangtan has debuted."  
I was quite for only a moment.  
"That's adorable" I laughed. He playfully pushed me away and cutely hid his face behind his hand.  
"I don't want to be adorable." He whined.  
I stopped and pulled his hand away from his face, revealing a bright red face avoiding eye contact with me.  
"You're much more than that" I found myself saying as he finally looked up into my eyes.  
He leaned in close and put his forehead against mine, taking both of my hands.  
"I really, really-"

"Seriously?" I heard a voice ask from behind us. We both jumped and turned to see a fuming Jimin staring at Suga with hatred.

**Chapter 8**

"Out of everybody it could've been, really?" He asked as his fists balled up. Me and Suga stepped a few inches away from each other. I caught Jimin's eyes as he looked between the two of us. Why was a feeling guilty.  
"And you" He directed towards me."I can't believe you would just...just-"  
"Look at that, don't even know what to say" Suga said to him, loosing whatever guilt he had.  
"Shut the hell up" Jimin warned.  
"Guys, let's not do this here okay?" I said as I looked at the camera man as well as a few people on the other side of the street watching us.  
"No, let's go right ahead and finish it here. Does nobody seem to have respect for me?" Jimin asked.  
"Why are you mad Jimin?" Suga asked as he tilted his head, knowing fully well why Jimin was mad.  
Jimin chortled. "Really? Did you _really _just ask me that?" Jimin said as he moved closer.  
"Well I'm just curious. I understand why you're mad at me but for you to be mad at her? That makes no sense. It's _shallow_. She isn't with you, not tied down to you in any kind of way. She can do whatever she wants with whoever she wants. I can honestly say I don't know who you're becoming Jimin." Suga said as he swiftly put his arm around me and began to walk away.  
"Where do you think you're going" He asked as he grabbed Suga by the jacket hood. Suga wasted no time swinging around and shoving Jimin off him onto the floor, causing me to gasp.  
"Guys! Please!" I said as I grabbed Suga who was standing over Jimin. More people had gathered around, and I couldn't stand to see a fight.  
"Learn to leave things how they are instead of trying to prove something only to make yourself look like a fool." Suga spat as he turned around, walking swiftly. My eyes lingered on Jimin, who glanced at me and refused to face me she got up. I sighed and ran to catch up to Suga. Once I did, he grabbed my hand.  
"You okay?" He asked.  
"Yea, fine" I said. I glanced back one last time as I saw Jimin still standing there. Instead of anger, though, it was a pained look on his face.  
"You looked back?" Suga asked. He had been facing straight, I think trying to control his temper.  
"Huh? Oh...yeah" I said, wondering if I should have said no.  
He didn't say anything, only tightened his grip on my hand as we walked back to the others.

"Are you sure that was okay Suga?" I asked as we sat on the couch. The others were all doing their own thins, it was Jungkook who greeted the two of us with a strange look on his face.  
"Yea, it's fine. He just needs to realize a few things is all. Back to Suga I see." He half joked as he was on his phone.  
"It blew over pretty quickly with us" Jungkook said, a bit confused at Suga's last comment. "Then again-ours was a misunderstanding" He corrected.  
"Way to help JK" Suga joked as Jungkook apologized.  
"Is it time for dinner yet? I'm ready to go to bed." I stated as I plopped my head back.  
"Already? It's only four." Jungkook sighed.  
"Speaking of which, has anyone seen Jimin?" Jin called from the other room.  
Me and Suga looked over at each other, already fed up with the conversation waiting to happen.  
"Yea, he was out for a walk." Suga responded.  
"A walk?" Jin asked. "Since before we woke up?"  
"Yes, a walk. We saw him on the way home. He's fine. I'm not his personally babysitter. Should be fine if he's back by 11 why does it matter?"  
Jin was quiet for a moment. "I was just curious." He poked his head around the corner. "He usually listens to my jokes and laughs. Suga is lame he only sits there and looks at me."  
"I laugh at your jokes" Jungkook called. "Sometimes" He added at the end.  
The rest of the day dragged by. Rapmon and Hobi cooked spaghetti and we settled down doing random things the rest of the night. I wanted to go to sleep-I was tired. But my mind wouldn't let me. Part of me felt bad and part of me didn't. Looking at it from Jimin's point of view I would have been upset too. I did reject him just this morning, so that had to have been a low blow. But at the same time Suga Yoongi, I mean, was right. It was my life and I wasn't tied to Jimin in any way, shape, or form. Somehow, though, I felt like I couldn't sleep until I knew he was back safely. Me going to bed early turned into me still being wide awake by the time 11 hit.  
"I talked to Jimin" Tae said to Rapmon as everyone got into bed.  
"He's going to be late tonight, he said don't wait up."  
"That kid" Rapmon said "Does he think rules are here for decoration? Doesn't he know we have practice in the morning" He mumbled to himself, sighing as he crawled into bed as everybody said goodnight.  
I sighed after I heard the first few snores from the same people who always fell asleep first- Rapmon, Hobi, and Suga. Tae was sometimes one of the first but then there were days where he'd be wide awake. Tonight, seemed to be one of those nights for him as well.  
I checked my phone and scrolled to Jimin's messages. All you could see was at least a month's worth of goodnights from each of us. I felt bad looking at them and returning my eyes to the empty bed beside me. I tried for it anyways.  
_"Goodnight" _Sent.  
I waited a long while, snores from Tae and Jungkook finally arising. I sighed angrily. It was already past midnight, I get not wanting to text me back but just how late do you think you're going to stay out until?!  
I quietly climbed down from the bed, careful not to move it around too much. I heard a shuffle and paused as a saw Jin rub his eyes. I tried to quickly sneak off before his eyes opened but I felt his hand grab my wrist before I could.  
"Are you going to get him?" He asked as he looked up at me with innocent eyes. I hesitated but simply nodded.  
"Bring one of the other boys with you" He whispered.  
"It's dangerous for a girl to go out alone this late. I would go, but I need my beauty sleep to keep this face so handsome" He said as if it was a good excuse as he turned back around.  
I sighed internally. Well, I couldn't bring Suga, that would only make matters worse, I think. I didn't want to wake Tae seeing as he had enough trouble getting to sleep tonight. I didn't even think about Hobi- my patience wasn't too high today. Rapmon's got enough on his shoulders with being the leader and all. 'Jungkook it is'.  
"Hey, Kookie" I said as I shook him lightly.  
"Hm" He asked sleepily. Thank god he was easy to wake.  
"I want to go find Jimin. I'm worried. Can you come with me? I'm sorry" I said.  
"No, it's okay." He said as he waited a moment, rubbing his eyes and checking the time before he got up.

"So where do you think he could be?" I asked Jk.  
"No idea, but we can check the park-that's where he said he went last time.  
So we started walking in the direction of the park, setting out to find Jimin.

"This is a waste of time" I said as I sat down on the empty park swing. "I don't know why I thought I could find him... or why I would want to."  
"Don't be so pessimistic. We'll find him." Jungkook said as he sat on the other one.  
"I feel bad, you're going to be dead tired at practice" I added.  
"I can handle it, what about you?" He challenged.  
"Oh, I don't have to" I bragged. "I have my doctor's appointment at 2 tomorrow afternoon." I said sticking my tongue out.  
"Ah. forgot about that"  
We sat on the swings for about five minutes.  
"Okay, let's just walk around until we find him" I said hopping off.  
"What if we don't?" Jk said.  
"Well, then we go back. I can try calling him, but he might not answer for m-"  
"Don't worry about it, he's probably avoiding you. I'll call him" Jungkook said a little oddly.  
He pulled out his phone and quickly dialed.  
"Is it ringing?" I asked as I moved closer.  
"Huh? yeah, yeah, it is." He said getting up from the swing and walking the other way. I ran to catch up to him.  
"Damn" He said as I did.  
"What?" I asked, finding his behavior a little strange.  
"It rang three times and went to voicemail, he's ignoring my call"  
I sighed aggravated.  
"I'm gonna text him" I said pulling out my phone. JK snatched it away.  
"If you do that, he'll know we're out looking for him, so he'll make it harder for us to find him right?" he said.  
I paused for a moment. "Yea..."  
We ended up walking around the whole small city we were in, brushing past clubs Jungkook refused to go inside of and look in. We got to one and I think JK feared all the people because he wanted to rush away from it as fast as he could.  
"This is hopeless, Nao. He could be anywhere. It's 4 in the morning, the rest of us have to get up for training in an hour and a half. Let's go back." JK said, very tired looking.  
I just nodded. I didn't mean for us to stay out this late.  
We were standing on the front steps before I said anything.  
"I'm sorry Kookie. I don't even know why I'm so hung up over this. I really just" I sighed. "I don't even know."  
"Do you think... maybe, even just a little. You still like him?" He asked, sadness on his face.  
"I'm done lying to myself and to others, so... yea. I don't know to what extent, but yea. I do still like him. But that doesn't mean somebody else can't come along and change my mindset on that" I said with barely a smile as earlier today popped into my mind.  
"And by that you mean...Suga, right" He said, sounding a bit aggravated.  
"Yea. Why do you say it like that?" I asked as I looked at him with curiosity.  
"It's just-I mean. I can't" He angrily sighed as he kicked a small decoration off of the step.  
"Jungkook, calm down it's alright. Whatever it is you can tell me I'll listen. What's got you so worked up?"  
"I can't tell you. And even if I could it's not something that's easy to explain for me." He said as he leaned back and scratched his neck.  
"You can try, I'll listen" I said again. I've never seen him like this before I felt bad for him. That's probably why he's been acting so weird tonight.  
He looked down at me with a face I've never seen on him before, I didn't know how to take it. It was like he was having an internal argument with himself. He straightened up and stepped in front of me, his face serious. I got a different vibe from him all together. It's like he wasn't the playful little baby I always saw him as right now.  
"I'm just scared of how you'll take it" He said, as I saw the fear in his eyes lightly. his expression softened.  
"Take what?" I said in a low whisper, hoping it's not what I thought it was.  
"Jungkook. if you mean to tell-" He grabbed the back of head before I could finish, knowing what I was about to say but not wanting to hear it, as he roughly pressed his lips to mine. I love Jk but not like this, and it just felt wrong to me. He tried to press closer as I bit down on his lip. He let go of my hair as he called out in pain, a bit of blood dripping from his lip.  
He looked up and immediately I saw sadness and pain flash across his face.  
"What the hell is wrong with you" I said, my voice shaky. I didn't know how to feel. At one point I was furious that he'd just done that, but the other was sad for him that he'd gotten himself so worked up over this and got rejected like he did. I wanted to feel bad for him and help him, but I couldn't right now.  
"I'll tell you what his problem is." We heard a voice from the end of the long porch. It was Jimin. The fact that he's always here when something happened was a mix between comforting and alarming. Either that or it was pure coincidence and bad luck on his part. It would make sense that we didn't see him-It was still dark and he was in the corner of the porch, where the shadows kept him hidden. Plus, we didn't really look over there as we didn't feel we needed to.  
"He was playing you this whole time. Isn't that right Kook?" He asked. He looked worn out and tired.  
"Do you want to tell her? Or shall I?" Jimin asked.  
I looked at Jk who shot a glare to Jimin, lowering his head as he looked at me, wiping the blood from his lip.  
"Me it is" Jimin smiled cunningly. Though you could tell he was not amused at all. I saw the vein in his neck popping out slightly, which is a way anybody really can tell if he's pissed.  
"I called Tae earlier today. It was Jungkook who answered his phone at first. Thinking Jungkook would be up for a little bit of fun, I decided to ask if he wanted to stay out tonight and meet me at a club down the road from here. He said no, he needed to be in his best shape for the training tomorrow. So, I said okay that's fine but don't tell anybody where I am. He gave Tae is phone back and I asked Tae, who said partying wasn't his thing which I knew it wasn't but hey, wouldn't hurt to try. So, I just told Tae to tell Rapmon that I was going to be late so don't wait up. I get back about an hour ago to find you and Jk gone. I decided to call him, only to be sent to voicemail 3 times. Jin was awake and tells me you two are out looking for me and that you left quite a bit ago, and this confused me. How is Jungkook out looking for me when I told him where I was at? And then I made sense. He was trying to get you by yourself and do all this. I gotta say, you went all out Kookie. props."  
I processed this for a minute. It did make sense-Kookie acting weird, especially when we passed the club.  
"Did you even call him when we were at the park?" I asked him quietly.  
Jimin tilted his head, waiting for the answer, Jungkook shook his head.  
I scoffed. "This is ridiculous"  
I watched Jimin looking at Jungkook. I was worried about what he was going to do next.

"I can't believe you Jungkook. Why?" I asked as walked to where I was in front of him.  
He kept his head down, no answer. "Look up at me Jungkook. You wanted to act like a man earlier well you can act like one now too"  
It took a minute, but he finally looked up at me. He seemed so pitiful. My expression softened.  
"Why?"  
"Because, I knew I didn't stand a chance. But I had to let you know how I felt, I needed the time to get myself together and... I don't know. But I'm not sorry."  
I sighed. "Jk, if you were anybody else, I swear I would've done more than that."  
Jimin jumped in. "And that's where I come in, to do what she won't but what you deserve-"  
I stepped in front of Jungkook and put my hand on Jimin's firm chest.  
"It's done with, leave it alone please"  
Jimin and I held eye contact for a good minute before he stepped back and leaned against the porch.  
"Get inside Jungkook. Looking at you any longer is going to change my mind" He said. My mouth dropped a little as Jk went quietly inside.  
"Did you just... control your temper? I'm impressed" I said.  
"Well, someone did tell me to learn when to walk away" He said, referring to what Suga had said.  
"Are you still mad at Suga?" I asked him. He ran his fingers through his hair and let off a small smile.  
"Yea, but not really."  
I looked at him confused.  
"You may have said that you like Suga," He explained "But you said you still like me. If I keep doing the right things to impress you Suga will no longer even stand a chance."  
I scoffed, my face going red. I forgot I had told Jungkook that right before everything happened, and Jimin had been standing there the whole time.  
"Don't go thinking weird things! I only said that because... just because" I said as I crossed my arms.  
"Just because huh?" He laughed. I watched him as his smile became a little brighter, his laugh a little bit contagious as I smiled back too.  
"But seriously, I have realized that I over react a lot and I need to control myself. And I'm going to work on it."  
I got serious, and my voice became softer towards him, a little more caring than it had been since we got here.  
"I accept your apology. And thank you for trying."  
"But, I will tell you this" He said as he stood up and moved closer. I raised my eyebrows challengingly.  
"I won't make a move until you do first" He whispered as he chuckled lowly, walking inside, leaving me outside in the summer air with goosebumps. I could feel how red my face was.  
"Nobody even wants you to make a move! Don't let your head get so big stupid" I called quietly into the house. I waited a little bit before my phone went off. It was Jimin.  
"_Goodnight" _I smiled to myself regardless.  
When I climbed into bed, I fell asleep instantly and it was a very peaceful sleep. I was too preoccupied with other things to worry about Jungkook squirming around not being able to sleep. I did feel bad but that was something he should have known the consequences of. It did suck because if we ever did go back to normal it would take a while, but that was something for me to worry about another day. I think I could really change Jimin for the better this time, I can see he's really trying and putting in effort like he's a whole new person, which is more than he'd ever done before.

**Chapter 9**

The last few weeks have flown by, and before we knew it, the collaboration performance was only two weeks away. The doctors said I had only suffered from a panic attack the day I had fallen out, so since then arrangements were made with Mr. Kusagi to not practice so long during the days he comes over for training. It did make me feel a little better, but the chest pains were still coming and going, and I was still tired more than somebody my age should be. I haven't talked to my mother since the last short phone call, but AJ said she's doing alright, which was enough to keep my worries at bay.

Things with Jungkook have eased up a little bit, but they aren't back to how they were in the beginning. He and Jimin are still very close, but there's an unspoken tension at times. Suga is still quiet as usual- He'd invited me on another date, to which I declined. We ended up going to lunch the next day though, and he and Jimin exchanged harsh looks throughout the rest of that day which made me uncomfortable. Everybody else was just the same as before. We had honestly turned into one big family and I'd never felt more at home.

Jimin had kept his word and was holding to not making a move first well. It was a little aggravating whenever he would give me that signature flirt just to move close and then turn and walk away leaving my heart fluttering. But at the same time, I was happy- I mean, I was better off without him, right? That's what I would like to keep telling myself.

We had just finished our training, and things were looking pretty good from what I could see. Mr. Kusagi had dismissed us at 2 that afternoon and we had just made the decision to celebrate all our hard work with going to one of the clubs together. Rap Mon had already called the club ahead of time to make sure there wouldn't be any fans bothering us while we enjoyed our night. Don't get me wrong, we love our fans. But at times, they can be a bit…. overwhelming to say the least.

"Okay, so I don't know about any of you guys, but I definitely don't have the wardrobe to go out tonight. Who else needs to go shopping?" I said as I left the closet, not finding anything suitable for a night out.

"I'll go, I can't be caught in the same outfit twice" Jin pepped up.

"Won't hurt to look" Suga said.

"I just want to go out I'm tired of this place it gets boring" Tae chimed in from somewhere in the kitchen.

"I'll be okay, I have a nice outfit planned out" Rap Mon said sitting on the couch.

"Same here" Jimin said as he plopped down beside him and sent a gaze my way.

"I need some different boots" Jungkook called as he ran out from the bathroom.

We all grabbed a quick snack before we left and squeezed into two separate taxis- me, Suga, and Tae in one and Jin and Jungkook in the other. We went to the downtown shopping district of the city and tried on multiple outfits, killing a good majority of the day. We got back and all took a little power nap, and then proceeded to get ready.

The guys were all dressed in their best outfits, and honestly looked like they were about to go put on a show somewhere. I could say the same for myself, of course. I felt sexy in a confident kind of way. I didn't go too extravagant. I had on some maroon tights that hugged my thighs with some black heels that went up to my knees with a pretty hunter green top. My hair was down in thick waves, framing my face and accenting my hazel eyes. The club was in walking distance-it was a little bit of a walk, but it wasn't so bad. We had gotten there at about 10, when the party is just starting to kick off. We checked in with the bouncer to make sure we wouldn't be bothered and continued inside.

"Wow, this place is nice" Suga yelled over the loud upbeat music. We all agreed and made our way over to the crowded bar. A few people were staring but were forewarned upon entering the club. I could tell the difference in the people who knew who we were as opposed to those who didn't.

"What can I get y'all?" The pretty bartender asked as we sat down. Suga sat next to me but Jimin was quick to stand behind me.

"I'll have a jack and coke" Jimin said giving me a little wink, which I smiled at. "And she'll have a crown apple and ginger ale"

She got us our drinks and I turned to him.

"Look at you, remembering my signature drink. Props"

"Yeah, well hopefully you've learned how to pace yourself- You know how you are when you drink" He grinned. My face grew red with embarrassment at the memories of our past nights out. I wasn't belligerent, but I get wild.

"So, are you ready to show us what kind of moves you have outside of the choreography we've been working on?" Rap Mon said as he walked up to me and Jimin with a beer in his hand.

Hobi walked up behind him and grabbed my hand, leading his steps rhythmically. I was a little nervous dancing alongside J-Hope, but that was because in my opinion he was the best of the dancers in the group.

It didn't take me long to catch on to the patterns in his movements, and we were keeping up with each other well, both laughing having a good time. We laughed at the way Rap Mon and Jin were dancing next to us-it wasn't horrible, but it didn't look very fluid. Tae had found a partner of his own and was showing her a few dance moves to follow him with.

"I'm not very much of the dancing type, but I like the way you move" I heard a voice say behind me. I turned around to see Suga handing me another drink and I placed my empty cup on the bar and grabbed the full one from him.

"Not too bad yourself" I said as I held the cup in one hand and grabbed his hand with my empty one. I kept the dancing to a semi-decent manner, turning around and matching my hip movements with his.

I heard all the other guys in the group let out "Woo's and Yeah's" playfully as I dropped down and swung my hips, still holding his hand. This embarrassed me a little bit and I lost my rhythm, laughing as I got back up and hid my face in Suga's neck laughing.

I felt Suga tense up a little at the sudden closeness, but before he could make another move, I felt an arm wrap lightly around my waist and spin me around.

I was face to face with Jungkook, who smiled innocently at me, letting me know his intentions were out of pure fun. I smiled back, making his smile bigger and we both laughed and swayed for a moment. He grabbed my once again empty glass from my hand and took me to the bar, where I ordered another drink. I was already feeling pretty good, but I took the drink regardless.

Dancing with Jungkook was a little faster paced, and he was more comfortable with where he put his hands as opposed to Suga. I flipped my hair and it got a bit tense when we made eye contact and he brushed my bangs back behind my ear. I tried to stand still and look stern for a moment before I felt the effects of the alcohol and fell forward, leaning into him. He paused and we were nose to nose, his gaze piercing, not knowing his next move. It threw him off whenever I uncharacteristically let out a giggle. He simply smiled back and wrapped his arms around me, moving with the beat.

Everybody was laughing and having a great time, which is exactly what we all needed. I had gone to refill my drink when I felt a pair of arms firmly wrap around me and twirl me in a circle until I let out a playful yelp. I already knew who it was, I didn't need to turn around. The way his chin fell into the crook of my neck, I could feel his jawline tense up from the large grin he must have had on his face. I couldn't help but to smile and melt back into him, holding his arms and we swayed, grabbing my 4th drink from the bartender.

**Chapter 10**

I downed the drink and placed the cup on bar, turning to face the man behind me.

"Hey, don't you think you should slow down a little bit?" I heard him say, but his words didn't register as the alcohol was making me lose any sense of stability I had.

"What's the problem? Maybe you need another?" I suggested as I walked back and ordered his and mine, handing him the cup. He only looked at me with an expression I could tell was him being stuck on what to feel right now.

"Live in the moment, let's relive past days" I smiled and tripped into him a little bit and laughed.

He had a smile on his face, but I could tell he was uneasy. "Come on, who's gonna finish it first?" I asked as I playfully pressed the drink against my lips.

"I really don't think that's a good ide- Wait don't cheat!" He said as he threw his cup to his mouth and swallowed the hard whiskey.

"I win!" I said as I placed the cup down and ran off drunkenly to the dance floor.

"Hobi!" I yelled and grabbed his hand, to which he began dancing with me.

I was beginning to come out of my shell with the help of liquid courage and was starting to catch the eye of pretty much everyone in the club. Paired up with Hobi it had to have looked good- a few people had pulled out cameras. I was getting plenty of cat calls and woos from multiple people, but it wasn't anything inappropriate. My attention span was done with Hobi after two songs and I had cut into Tae's dancing and began dancing with his partner. She was pretty- thin, brown eyes, sleek black hair. She was a decent dancer and having me cut in and dance with her seemed to make her more confident and a smile flashed over her face. We danced a little bit longer until Jin and Rap Mon circled me, making me laugh with their moves. I twirled around from one to the other having the best time I've had in a long time.

"Suga!" I said as I grabbed his cup from his hand and downed it. He laughed and looked at me with wide eyes, but he took me to the middle of the dance floor and began to dance with me once again. I was fearless in my moves, trying to tease him as the alcohol brought out the flirt in me. I moved in close to his face, close enough to kiss if I had allowed it, but turned abruptly and began snaking my back down to his feet and back up, rubbing against his torso as I did so.

"Hey, Naomi, you want a water to drink or so- "

"Jimin!" I yelled happily as I swung around and felt Suga catch me from tumbling over. I laughed and they exchanged glances.

"Oh thanks!" I said as I grabbed the cup out of his hand and downed it.

"Kinda gross but whatever" I laughed as I leaned forward, going nowhere in particular.

"That's because it was my jack and coke…" He laughed nervously. Suga looked at him quizzically.

"I know when she's past her limits because she starts grabbing drinks that aren't hers and drinking them" Jimin explained.

"Ah, well add another one to that because she did it to me earlier" He said as I began to half walk half dance to Jungkook.

"Oh yeah, she's had one of mine too…" Jin said from behind Suga.

"Same here" the girl I had danced with earlier chimed in.

Everyone was quiet for a moment as I grabbed on to Kookies hand and started to dance with him again.

"I think we need to take her home JK" I heard Jimin say as he moved to behind me again. I stopped and turned, a hurt look on my face.

"What?!" I turned back to JK.

"Kookieee" I whined as I placed my hands on his cheeks to cup his face. "Didn't we come here to drink and have fun and party?" I asked looking at him with puppy dog eyes.

His face got beet red and I moved my hands to lean on his chest.

"Chim Chim's trying to be a buzzkill. I'm not going home."

Jimin's eyes got wide. The last time she'd called him that was when they were together, and she could tell it hurt him a little to hear it, but the alcohol blinded her senses and was making her oblivious.

"Neither am I" Jungkook smiled as he downed his drink and grabbed my hands, swinging to the beat and shooting Jimin a challenging look.

I laughed happily as Jungkook voted to stay with me, and everybody else had gone back to their partying routines, each dancing with me. Jimin, however, had gone back to the bar. After a few dances the drinks were really starting to take effect, and I stumbled over to Jimin, who about four empty glasses in front of him.

"You don't wanna come dance with me?" I pouted as I draped my arms over him and snuggled into his neck. I felt him breathe in my scent and he gripped my arms and squeezed his cheek to mine.

"I don't feel like it much…. everybody else is having a good time, go dance with them" He said as I felt the bass in his voice against me as he spoke.

I clumsily spun his chair to face me. "C'mon, just like old times, right?" I winked and bit my lip slightly, my chest still heaving slightly from all the dancing.

He was quiet for a moment and finished off his drink before he pierced a gaze at me that felt like it could see into my deepest thoughts.

"You know" He said as he leaned in close, his lips at my ear.

"You're making this 'not making the first move' thing pretty damn hard."

He stayed there for a moment before he backed off and began to turn his chair around, but I stopped him halfway and turned it back to me, not thinking about my actions as self-control left my brain.

"Then don't" I said and with no hesitation my lips were against his. He wasted no time responding as I opened my mouth to let his tongue slip in., He moved close and pressed his hand to the small of my back and wrapped his hand in my hair, pulling me in hungrily. A sensation of euphoria enclosed my drunken senses, and we were the only two people in the club as we pushed closer.

"I've been waiting so long for this" He said as he pulled me in. The next thing I knew I woke up to the steady sound of beeps and the bright white of fluorescent lights- I was in the emergency room.


End file.
